Railway-tie



(No Model.)

B. 0. LUKE-NS.

RAILWAY TIE.

No. 370,072. Patented Sept. 20, 1887.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

RUDOLPH G. LUKENS, OF BROOMALL, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,072, dated September 20, 1887.

Application filed May 31, 1887. Serial No. 239,837.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH O. LUKENs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Broomall, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in railway-ties; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a railway-tie embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, showing the manner of connecting the trackrails thereto. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line w 00 of Fig. 2.

A represents the tie, which is made of a single piece of metal, either wrought or cast, and is T- shaped in cross-section, thereby providing the tie with the flat head or bearing-surface B, and the depending central web or flange, C, adapted to enter the ground. At the ends of the tie are formed depending transverse plates D, which are arranged at right angles with relation to the flange or web C and projectfrom opposite sides of the ends thereof.

The flange or web 0 is provided on its lower edge, near its ends, with depending loops or stirrups E, whereby weights or anchors may be attached to the tie, in order to hold the same firmly in the ground and prevent it from rising and falling when heavy trains pass rapidly over it.

The flange or web 0 enters the ground and prevents lateral motion of the tie, and the plates D, at the ends thereof, prevent longitudinal movement of the tie, and consequently the latter is held firmly in position. The head B bears upon the surface of the ground and sustains the weight of passing trains.

(No model.)

In order to secure the track-rails to the tie, I provide the head B, at suitable distances from its ends, with lips or tongues E, which are formed integrally therewith, and are adapted to engage opposite sides of the bases of the rails and to be clinched downwardly from the same, thus preventing the rails from moving on the tie. In order to attain additional security, I provide the head B with openings F, which are arranged opposite thelips or tongues E, and are adapted to receive bolts G, which engage the bases of the rails, and are providedat their lower ends with clampingnuts H, v

though in practice said bolts will be very rarely, if ever, required.

A railway-tie thus constructed can be manufactured at a small advance over the cost of the ordinary wooden ties now in common use, is much stronger, and will last three or four times as long. Moreover, a tie thus construct ed is adapted to be very readily placed in position and attached to the rails, and I estimate that after the rails and ties have been distrib- RUDOLPH O. LUKENS.

Witnesses:

GARRETT E. SMEDLEY, FRANK B. Rnonns. 

